by Calculated Risk on 10/09/2014 08:30:00 AM

The DOL reports:

In the week ending October 4, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 287,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 287,000 to 288,000. The 4-week moving average was 287,750, a decrease of 7,250 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since February 4, 2006 when it was 286,500. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 294,750 to 295,000.

There were no special factors impacting this week's initial claims.

The previous week was revised up to 288,000.

The following graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since January 1971.

Click on graph for larger image.


The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims decreased to 287,750.

Note: The low for the 4-week average in 2006 was 286,500 - so just a little lower and this will be the lowest since early 2000.

This was below the consensus forecast of 293,000 and in the normal range for an expansion.